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Okay now, nobody panic, but Mythic is closing down three servers in Warhammer Online. Specifically, the North American servers Iron Rock and Volkmar and the European server Corroburg will be disabled beginning three weeks from February 9. American players will be offered free transfers to the Gorfang server, while European players will have the option to transfer to Drakenwald. Furthermore, the Gorfang and Drakenwald servers will have the multi-realm ability enabled, which "allows accounts to have both Order and Destruction characters on the server and increases the character limit to 20."

Community coordinator James Nichols notes that the sever closures are being made to "enable players to experience more action during all hours whether fighting in scenarios or Open RvR." Head over to the Warhammer Online site for full details, including instructions for transferring guilds.

Previously, the operation of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning in Europe was handled by GOA, a division of France Telecom. Today, EA has announced that BioWare Mythic, the developer behind WAR, will now take over "publishing, operating and subscription service rights" in the region.

During the transition, BioWare Mythic will shut down the European servers for 48 to 72 hours as it works to bring the new servers online. To celebrate the transition, existing and former players will all receive 14 days of free play, while new players will gain the option of installing an Endless Trial mode, which gives players the option to enjoy the trial version of the game for as long as they like. You can check it out for yourself here.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biowarebioware-mythiceaendless-trialeuropemmoWARWarhammer-OnlineWarhammer-Online-Age-of-ReckoningThu, 08 Jul 2010 05:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/09/warhammer-online-billing-error-results-in-overcharge/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/09/warhammer-online-billing-error-results-in-overcharge/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/09/warhammer-online-billing-error-results-in-overcharge/#comments
Just like that, we suddenly understand some peoples' stern distaste for subscription-based MMOs. A recent bug in the Warhammer Online billing system charged some players its $14.99 monthly fee dozens of times on their monthly due dates. The amount of the overcharge differs from user to user -- reports on this forum thread average between $200 and $500. One player, who claimed to be repeatedly charged for a $77.94 six-month subscription, was hit with fees totaling $1013.12.

The cause of the error is currently unclear, as is the scope of its impact on the game's subscriber base. EA's billing support department is now in full-on crisis recovery mode, working with each affected player's financial institution to refund the fees within "24-36 hours." Considering that this debacle could have likely led to any number of overdraft fees and bounced rent checks for the over-charged, it could prove quite a costly recovery for EA.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>billbillingbugeaea-mythicElectronic-Artsmmommorpgoverchargingsubscriptionwarhammer-onlineFri, 09 Apr 2010 10:06:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/27/warhammer-online-endless-free-trial-now-instantly-upgradeable/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/27/warhammer-online-endless-free-trial-now-instantly-upgradeable/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/27/warhammer-online-endless-free-trial-now-instantly-upgradeable/#comments
EA Mythic is making an even stronger push to try to hook trial players on Warhammer Online, allowing them to upgrade their copy of the game without requiring them to visit a tangible, brick-and-mortar retailer. Now, players who partake in the "endless" free trial can access the title's full portfolio of quests, areas, and baddies by simply subscribing to the game -- purchasing the client itself is no longer necessary.

Of course, the retail version of the game comes with a free month-long subscription, so it's not that huge a savings. Still, you now have the option of upgrading your account without interrupting your zealous Realm vs. Realm campaign.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ea-mythicmmommormmorpgsubscriptionwarhammerwarhammer-onlineSat, 27 Mar 2010 09:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/17/warhammer-online-begins-reenlistment-campaign-with-incentives/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/17/warhammer-online-begins-reenlistment-campaign-with-incentives/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/17/warhammer-online-begins-reenlistment-campaign-with-incentives/#comments
Okay, former Warhammer Online subscriber. You've had your fun, doing things that don't involve experience grinding or inter-Realm sparring. Now it's time to come back home. Developer Mythic Entertainment has revealed that the MMO has opened its arms up to its first sons and daughters, allowing former players to come back for a free 10-day trial. During this time, trial players can access all of the game's recently added content, and can even pick up three exclusive in-game items.

The offer is live right now, and will run until December 23. If you happened to delete the game from your hard drive in a fit of rage, you can re-download the WAR client from the game's official site.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>eaElectronic-Artsfree-trialmmommorpgmythic-entertainmentWARwarhammer-onlineThu, 17 Dec 2009 14:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/06/warhammer-onlines-free-trial-becomes-endless-caps-level-at-10/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/06/warhammer-onlines-free-trial-becomes-endless-caps-level-at-10/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/06/warhammer-onlines-free-trial-becomes-endless-caps-level-at-10/#comments
Most MMO players tend to spend significantly more time in their virtual environs than a 10-day free trial could possibly permit -- that's why Mythic Entertainment recently made some drastic changes to its trial program for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. From now on, folks who demo the game for free will have an unlimited amount of time to try it out -- however, their characters can only reach level 10 before they stop accumulating experience.

Sounds like a wise move on Mythic's part to increase interest in the title, but we're worried that it might create a new breed of Warhammer trial players who get treated like second-class citizens by their subscription-paying counterparts. "Keep walking, ten-capper," they'd say without making eye contact, "we don't take kindly to you folks around here."

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>demoeaElectronic-Artsfreemmommorpgmythicmythic-entertainmenttrialwarhammer-onlineFri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/28/warhammer-online-jumps-to-the-mac-realm-free-for-current-subscr/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/28/warhammer-online-jumps-to-the-mac-realm-free-for-current-subscr/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/28/warhammer-online-jumps-to-the-mac-realm-free-for-current-subscr/#comments
Though Mythic's Warhammer Online has been fueling the ceaseless Realm vs. Realm skirmish for more than a year on PCs, a new breed of gamer is about to gain access to the MMO: The guy whose computer is waycooler than yours.

EA Mythic has chosen the Apple as a healthy alternative to the crazy Warhammer Onlinecake we told you about last month. By which we mean the developer's fantasy MMO is coming to the Mac -- on October 10, to be exact. That's when the game -- which uses TransGaming's Cider technology to run on OS X -- officially hits, but anyone who has an existing WAR account (or wants to sign up for a 10-day "beta trial") can download the Mac beta client and start playing right now.

Mac players will be given two special titles and an exclusive in-game trophy (an apple with the WAR logo -- how totally unexpected!) when the game leaves beta.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>eaelectronic-artsmmomythic-entertainmentwarhammer-onlineWed, 30 Sep 2009 00:30:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/26/warhammer-cake-bites-into-food-network/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/26/warhammer-cake-bites-into-food-network/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/26/warhammer-cake-bites-into-food-network/#comments
A post about a game-related cake can only mean one thing, right? It's a slow news day. Normally, we would agree, but this one is special for a couple of reasons. First of all, Joystiq was actually contacted by a PR company about this cake, so we're guessing it must be a slow PR day, too. Second, this particular cake pretty much leaves all others in the dust.

Modeled after a squig and created for Warhammer Online's Baltimore Games Day booth, the cake is to be featured on Food Network's Ace of Cakes this Thursday, August 27. According to chef Duff Goldman, it's the best cake ever made on the show. Goldman also contributed to the world of strange size comparisons, noting that the cake is "about the size of large sheepdog." Frankly, the cake looks like it could eat a large sheepdog.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cakeculturesquigswarhammerwarhammer-onlineWed, 26 Aug 2009 22:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/26/mark-jacobs-explains-departure-from-mythic-and-ea/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/26/mark-jacobs-explains-departure-from-mythic-and-ea/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/26/mark-jacobs-explains-departure-from-mythic-and-ea/#comments
Mark Jacobs' unforeseen exit from Warhammer Online developer Mythic, a departure made known during the revelation of the BioWare/Mythic merger, left many fans and colleagues stunned and confused. In a lengthy post on his personal blog, Jacobs explained the reasoning for his evacuation -- he actually left the company early in May, when EA informed him that "they wanted to make some changes within the Games Label." Since that day, he's been out of contact from the rest of the Mythic team.

However, he's not ready to talk smack about the gaming industry juggernaut that forced the changes upon his studio -- Jacobs explained, "Over my 23 years of making games professionally I have refrained from attacking the competition, former and/or current partners, other game developers," and so on. You're a stronger man than us, Mr. Jacobs.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biowareeaElectronic-Artsmark-jacobsmmomythicquitwarhammer-onlineFri, 26 Jun 2009 18:45:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/24/mythic-and-bioware-rolled-into-one-mythics-mark-jacobs-departs/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/24/mythic-and-bioware-rolled-into-one-mythics-mark-jacobs-departs/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/24/mythic-and-bioware-rolled-into-one-mythics-mark-jacobs-departs/#comments
EA is mushing up Mythic and BioWare into one team led by BioWare's General Manager, Ray Muzyka. The new "RPG/MMO studio group" will have BioWare's Greg Zeschuk as the "group creative officer." Mythic's General Manager, Mark Jacobs, who oversaw the less-than-successfulWarhammer Online, has apparently been shown the door. Rob Denton, who was the chief operating officer at Mythic, will now become general manager and report to Muzyka.

Upon contacting EA, BioWare and Mythic, we were informed that a formal announcement would be made later in the day. We'll update as we hear more.

There's a battle of epic proportions beings waged -- for MMO memberships. EA Mythic has launched a new salvo of recruitment perks in hopes of bringing more bodies over to its side, and they go beyond the usual "refer a friend, get 30 days free" variety.

Starting today, a new tiered rewards system is rolling out for those who bring their friends into the ranks of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Bring in one friend, you get the usual 30 day account credit. Another? Voila, an "exclusive in-game pet" and a month of playtime.

Refer four new players and you'll get either the "Rod of Service" or "Collar of Servitude," exclusive items that grant a 5% experience and renown bonus to all party members. After that ... just more free playtime. Though, if you stay until the very end, we hear you get a toaster.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>eaea-mythicelectronic-artsmythicwarhammer-onlineMon, 09 Mar 2009 16:17:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/06/mythic-talks-warhammer-onlines-land-of-the-dead/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/06/mythic-talks-warhammer-onlines-land-of-the-dead/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/06/mythic-talks-warhammer-onlines-land-of-the-dead/#comments
Last week, Mythic unleashed info regarding several "live events" for its MMO, Warhammer Online. One of these live events is titled Land of the Dead, a zone that features new public quests, instances, items and a pyramid housing the Tomb King (the dungeon's focal point). With the event set for a June release, we'd thought Mythic told us everything it possibly could about the upcoming expansion. Well, not the case, as Jeff Hickman and creative director Paul Barnett revealed some new details to the folks at Eurogamer.

We now know that the Land of the Dead will include content from level 25 onto endgame raiding and that the "Land" mentioned in the title is a place where the Order and Destruction factions constantly wage war. Once in, players can find themselves under attack by a rival faction at any time, even when in an instance. Jeff explains that the Land of the Dead will include two areas: The Necropolis and the Tomb of the Vulture Lord, and that since it's RVR-gated, each faction must fight for ownership of the dungeon. He fully expects the dungeon "to change hands nightly," so if you're in there raiding and a different faction gains ownership, you could suddenly find yourself under attack. This place isn't for rookies, however, as Jeff emphasizes this really is for levels 25 and up and "designed to supplement our end game content after Lost Vale."

Before the zone is opened to the public in June, Mythic will hold a race allowing one of the factions early access to the zone for a short while before release.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>EAElectronic-Artsland-of-the-deadmmomythicpcwarhammerwarhammer-onlineFri, 06 Feb 2009 17:15:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/04/warhammer-online-reaches-300-000-subscribers/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/04/warhammer-online-reaches-300-000-subscribers/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/04/warhammer-online-reaches-300-000-subscribers/#comments
When that bevy of new content goes live for Warhammer Online later this month, there could be more than 300,000 fans around to enjoy it. That's the word from our sister site Massively, which reports that developer Mythic Entertainment could now boast nearly a third of a million accounts for the game.

That said, let's put the numbers in perspective: If all of WAR's subscribers were a classroom of 30 students, and all World of Warcraft's subscribers were represented by the other students at the school, then there wouldn't be a bully without wedgie arthritis or an unsold tube of acne cream for miles. (Thanks, representative math!)

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>eaElectronic-Artsmmomythic-entertainmentpcwarwarhammer-onlinewowWed, 04 Feb 2009 19:23:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/04/rumor-more-layoffs-at-mythic-senior-designers-affected/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/04/rumor-more-layoffs-at-mythic-senior-designers-affected/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/04/rumor-more-layoffs-at-mythic-senior-designers-affected/#comments
Joystiq has learned from several well-placed sources that a second round -- a much more serious round -- of layoffs has struck Mythic Entertainment. These cuts go further and deeper than the last round, which saw several members of the support staff let go. Current estimates indicate that between 60 and 130 people have been let go. These layoffs most certainly affect the development staff, and we've been told extend even to the ranks of senior designers. These rumored layoffs come less than a week after the announcement of a full-scale live event expansion for Warhammer Online.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoningis getting its first major booster shot just six months after its initial launch. Titled A Call to Arms, the changes will come to the game in the form of a number of in-game events held over the course of a few months -- the devs are calling it a "live expansion." Our ninja-looting sister site Massively has all the details about the upcoming events as well as an in-depth interview with WAR executive producer Jeff Hickman, but here's a basic breakdown of the events, and the additions they'll bring:

Call to Arms: Bitter Rivals (Late Feb.) -- The Bitter Rivals event features quests, tasks and RvR activities which will allow players to unlock the once-canceled Orc Choppa and Dwarf Slayer classes. Players who don't participate in the events will unlock the two classes a week later.

Call to Arms: Beyond the Sands (April) and Rise of the Tomb Kings (May) -- Hickman didn't share many details about these two events, only explaining that they would eventually lead up to the launch of ...

The Land of the Dead (June) -- An internal dungeon (with accompanying external zone) which realms will compete to control. It will feature new public quests, instances, items and a pyramid which houses the Tomb King; the dungeon's focal point which Hickman promises will incite "crazy epic adventures."

On Friday, January 16th, we heard through the tubes that layoffs had struck at EA's Mythic Entertainment, currently riding high acceptably with Warhammer Online. Here's what we were told: 21 customer service employees, half of QA and all of the playtest group were let go. We followed up with EA for a statement regarding the matter.

EA's corporate communications informed us that the publisher already announced a "cost-cutting initiative that includes facility closures and a headcount reduction," impacting about 10% of employees. The company doesn't plan to make any further announcements outside of its scheduled earnings report and can't give particular information about facilities.

Specific questions about the status and future of Warhammer Online were not answered. All the best to the EA employees who still have their jobs -- we'll try to get an EA butcher's bill together if we learn more.

Sister site Big Download contacted EA to find out if older PC games would become available, but the publisher wouldn't comment. Also, in case you're wondering, EA games on Steam apparently don't install or use third-party DRM set-ups. According to Valve "the only DRM it uses is Steam itself."

It may be nothing but a number to you, but to fans of Warhammer Online, patch 1.1a is the sickest, illest patch to come along since Game Update 1.0.6. Just how dope could one patch, which just went live in game, be? How about new careers? How about armor set improvements? Still nothing? Well how about one public quest in each chapter of Tier 1 being easier? How about that business?

As the recently released expansion for World of Warcraft clearly displayed with its mind-boggling sales figures, add-ons for MMOs (particularly ones with a large player base) can be lucrative undertakings. Despite this fact, Mythic developer Mark Jacobs recently issued a surprising statement on a Warhammer Online forum thread in which commenters were discussing features they'd like to see in the title's first expansion. According to Jacobs, Mythic won't be developing a WAR expansion until the kinks have been worked out of the core game.

Jacobs explained Mythic's reasoning, stating that they have no interest in "pushing an XPack out the door at the expense of WAR." While this may have come as a disappointment to the posters on the thread in question, we're sure the game's player base is appreciative of Mythic's continuing siege on gameplay snafus.

Joystiq's sister site Massively.com has all the news you'll need about MMOs. Here's the best, brightest, and most interesting stuff from the last week, all in one convenient place for your MMO minute.

EA licenses Dungeon Keeper MMO, for ChinaElectronic Arts has licensed out the Dungeon Keeper property as an MMO to Chinese-based developer NetDragon Websoft with the intent to eventually bring it overseas.

Richard Bartle responds to "torture quest" issueA few days ago we ran a report on Richard Bartle's take on a torture quest in World of Warcraft, the Art of Persuasion. Since then, the discussion has exploded and some have taken Bartle's quotes out of context. Because of this, Bartle has created a follow-up post to clarify some of the points that may have been misinterpreted.

NCsoft clarifies its rationale for closing Tabula RasaLast week we spoke very briefly with NCsoft's Director of Public Relations David Swofford about the company's decision to close Tabula Rasa. He reiterated the basic statement we heard from several sources surrounding the call: this was all about the bottom line.

We know that this is only going to interest a small portion of you, but if you're part of the Warhammer Online fan base, it's captivating stuff. When players in WAR finish a Public Quest, the loot they get is partially dependent on their "Contribution" rating, which supposedly credits them for the amount of damage and healing they did during the quest.

According to the tests of some players though, that number is random, applied when the player enters a zone, and remains stagnant until they leave it or log off. This has been kicking around for a couple of days and Mythic has not, as of yet, leaped to its own defense. We'll let you know when they speak up.

Ask Massively: Wrath vs All ComersDear Massively, I am SO SICK of all of the coverage of Wrath of the Lich King! I demand that someone at Massively write about something that isn't World of Warcraft related this week. Non-WoW players aren't interested in an expansion for a game that they don't even play. Someone throw me a freakin' bone here!

Three Rings officially launches Whirled projectWhirled, an ambitious web/virtual world hybrid from Three Rings, launched into Beta early this year. We were incredibly impressed with the project even back then, bouncing pieces of tofu or not.

Warhammer Online 1.0.5 patch notes live, Public Test server openedOver on the official site for Warhammer Online, patch notes are now available for the latest big update. Patch 1.0.5 is not only be a nice big refresh for the game, but will also be the first which players can extensively test on a Beta realm with copied characters beforehand.

Despite his rather stoic delivery during an Activision Blizzard conference call earlier today, Blizzard's Mike Morhaime undoubtedly took some thrill reciting the following statistics relating to players trying to leave World of Warcraft for the competition: Of the players who cited Funcom's Age of Conan as their reason for leaving WoW, a whopping 68% returned to Azeroth; of the players who cited Warhammer: Age of Reckoning as the impetus behind their departure, a less overwhelming (but similarly impressive) 46% of players ultimately leapt right back into Blizzard's no-doubt strategically receptive embrace.

So, what's the takeaway from this tale? Like broadband internet, hardcore drugs, or those 24-hour wicker stores, World of Warcraft is tough to stay away from once you've gotten a taste. And with Blizzard on the cusp of rolling out its latest and greatest expansion in Wrath of the Lich King, we're pretty certain there are plenty of cold-turkeyers getting the shakes just thinking about it.

Electronic Arts has revealed its second quarter fiscal results (ending Sept. 30) ... and things aren't pretty. The company lost $310 million in the quarter, another big hit following Q1's $95 million loss. Highlights from the quarter were the sales of Madden NFL 09(4.5 million sold), Spore (2 million sold) and Warhammer Online (1.2 million sold).

Unfortunately, EA's continuing hard times will impact its employees. The company plans to let go of 6% of its work force, which amounts to about 600 jobs. The next two quarters are when EA normally really starts bringing in the cash -- not that it'll mean much to those who'll be unemployed soon.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>eaea-sportselectronic-artsmadden-09q209sporewarhammer-onlineThu, 30 Oct 2008 18:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/21/massively-week-in-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/21/massively-week-in-review/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/21/massively-week-in-review/#commentsJoystiq's sister site Massively.com has all the news you'll need about MMOs. Here's the best, brightest, and most interesting stuff from the last week, all in one convenient place for your MMO minute.

WAR has only just begun to compete with WoW, declares Mark JacobsIf you've been following this particular exchange you'll know the score, but let's recap: Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan just like turned around and said some stuff about Warhammer Online, about how he wasn't even in the Beta and stuff, and Mark Jacobs was like whoa, and he totally turned around and said some stuff about World of Warcraft, and now Mark Jacobs is all, like, dude, bring it, and everybody's like, ohmygawd, it is so on.

Blizzard: Next MMO won't be WoW 2Go ahead a strike the possibility of a World of Warcraft 2 off your list of possible next-gen Blizzard MMOs because it's officially not happening. In an interview with Wired, Blizzard's recently talkative Mike Morhaime flat out said that their next MMO project isn't a sequel to their first. Of course, he wouldn't divulge exactly what it was either or this would be an entirely different sort of news post.

Massively in Metropolis: Making friends with SupermanIf you blow off Superman by ignoring his pleas for help, he'll be cranky at you. Meanwhile, Batman will be spending his time just waiting for you to turn on him and his family ... poised to take you down. Some discussion of quests with personality, plus exploration of the DCUO faction system called 'causes' below the cut!

Warhammer Onlineplayers will soon have to make room in their groups (and their hearts) for two new tank classes: Empire's Knights of the Blazing Sun and the Dark Elven Black Guards. If you're familiar with the game, the fact that those are similar to the Ironbreaker and Chosen respectively will mean something to you. If you're not familiar with the game ... well, why are you still reading this?

There's no firm date set for the new additions, but our friends at Massively tell us that EA and Mythic are aiming for December. Oh, and you can put your gold coins away, the additions will be free of charge.

Unless a blindfold, a bucket of water and a whole lot of bobbing is involved, it's rare to think "Apple" when you're talking about games. But after some tentative tests with a new 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook on one title, Obsessable is optimistic. The site managed to get Warhammer Online up and running in XP via Boot Camp, and the results were impressive, with no graphical hang-ups and only a little bit of installation trouble.

OK, so it's not exactly Alienware and WAR isn't exactly Crysis. But it's definitely a step in the right direction. If you need to see Apple and gaming fused with your own eyes, there are a couple of videos right here.

Joystiq's sister site Massively.com has all the news you'll need about MMOs. Here's the best, brightest, and most interesting stuff from the last week, all in one convenient place for your MMO minute.

Warhammer Online's party hits 750,000 playersIt seems like the forces of Order and Destruction have been busy recruiting, because Gamasutra is reporting that Warhammer Online is now partying hard at 750,000 subscribers strong.

Champions Online announces Closed Beta signupsCryptic Studios has just announced that players can now sign up for a chance to participate in the first Closed Beta of their forthcoming superhero MMO, Champions Online, with the Beta beginning in mid-November 2008. Applications can be made at the official website. The Beta is for PC only.

Mines of Moria gets a November 18th release dateMines of Moria, the first expansion for Lord of the Rings Online, has been given a release date of November 18th for both the NA and EU today. That means we're only about a month away from ten new levels, two new classes, legendary weapons, angry Balrogs and the under-mountain Dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dum.

Massively in Metropolis: DC Universe Online goes beyond questingThe folks at SOE Austin are looking to change the playing field fairly substantially with their superhero MMO title. In fact, in a number of ways they're looking to re-examine a lot of the basic elements we think of as part and parcel with the MMO package. One great example is the concept of questing.

When the Joystiq Network last spoke with Warhammer Online executive producer Jeff Hickman, the experience left us rolling on the floor in laughter. During a guest appearance on the Big Download podcast, Hickman and company were noticeably tired from a tour in Leipzig and PAX promoting the massively multiplayer title, and decided to kick back with a few drinks and have fun.

While still entertaining, this time it's all business. Today, signifying Warhammer Online's one-week retail anniversary, Hickman returns to discuss the launch, future add-on content and address some of the issues with the game.

Listen to the entire interview now or jump in if you like your interviews in ye olde style wall-of-text format. We're all about options here.

Despite appearances of similarities, Warhammer Online and World of Warcraft are very different games. Looking at screenshots and videos will only tell you so much, because it's under the hood where you'll find the differences. That's where this handy guide comes into play. It's here to explain why certain quests in WAR are considered "public" and what "instances" are really all about. Unlike our previous guide, this is for the total MMO newb.

The MMO genre has been slow to evolve. A primary reason being that games take a long time to come to market. So what's so special about these two games that you'd actually want to know the differences between them? Click on through to find out.

Our friends at Massively have done just that (as they have previously with Age of Conan and Guild Wars), presenting a WoW-based primer for the world of Warhammer Online. World, characters, questing, crafting, user-interface, PvP and more are covered, so if you're interested in WAR and have at least passable knowledge of WoW, check out the guide.

We know that most of you had some fairly important decisions to make this morning -- for instance, the mind-plaguing decision between coffee or tea, or the equally perplexing choice of cereal or pancakes. Perhaps you spent an hour in front of your dresser, trying to decide between boxers or briefs -- or, for our Alaskan friends, which color long johns best suited your mood. However, a select few of you will be making an even more complex decision today, likely in the next few hours: High Elves or Greenskins?

Worth it or not, to me personally, pay-to-play MMOs always felt like a ridiculous proposition. Paying to play a game I already paid for is like paying $5 to bite into a delicious burger I just got at the drive-through. Still, the genre continues to spawn new titles as proven at the 2008 Penny Arcade Expo.

While many MMO titles were on display, two were the most talked-about massively multiplayer role-playing games of the show: Warhammer Online and Aion: The Tower of Eternity. Realizing my limited experience with MMOs in the past, the team at Joystiq tasked me with learning as much as I could about each title and see if they could appeal to a genre newbie willing to jump into the online fray.

You can put down that syringe full of bear hormones - EA's got a much easier (and more affordable!) way of transforming yourself into that most noble of Mother Nature's creatures: simply don Korssar's Helm. You see, the "magical Kislevite helm is imbued with the spirit of the wild North and will magically transform the wearer into a ferocious bear."

There are some caveats however: your ability to live your life as a bear will be limited to the virtual confines of EA Mythic's Warhammer Online MMO (a deal breaker for some, to be sure) and those willing to confine their bearness to WAR will still need to preorder Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 on PC to access the magical helm. Preorder cross-promotion? Clever move, EA. Great to see publishers further incentivizing preorders ... but we're sure there's at least a handful of WAR-heads eager to play as a bear (a bear!) but uninterested in picking up Red Alert 3. In other words: don't throw away those bear hormones just yet.

EA Mythic has announced that its MMO treatment of the classic Games Workshop tabletop game, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, has begun its march towards store shelves.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (best known in the MMO community as WAR) is finished and off to the magical disc-forging factory, preceding a public beta set to begin September 7, for which more than 800,000 players have registered. A very large, metal switch connected to what are surely fortress-like game servers will be flipped to the "fully on" position September 18, which is when the rest of the world will go to WAR.

There's a war going on. No, we're not talking about the one between the Armies of Order and the Armies of Destruction depicted in the recently released cinematic trailer for EA's upcoming MMO Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Nope, we're talking about the war being waged on blogs and in forums over which fantasy MMO-themed video is better: this one or the Wrath of the Lich King opening. Since it's a war, you all have to watch both and pick a side. Apathy is not a choice!

If you can't wait to get your hands on Warhammer Online, EA announced today that an open beta for the game will kick off Sept. 7, giving you a whole 11 days to play before the general populace sullies it on Sept. 18.

So, how do you get in? Just pre-order the game with one of EA's "select retail partners." (We don't know who they are yet, but even money says GameStop is one of them.) Also, those who are already in the closed beta will automagically be invited. So, are you getting in on the ground floor? Or have you been burned one too many times by start-up MMOs?

This report comes from an interview with Mythic's Creative Director, Paul Barnett, on Videogaming247. Barnett explains that the Warhammer team got a little out of hand when developing certain aspects of the title, and that the team decided to cull their expansive career roster to the 20 classes available at launch. A wise choice, considering the countless months it would have taken to make sure that the Treasure Hunter, Gymnast, Dermatologist, Pastry Chef, Assistant Dermatologist, Chimney Sweep, and Librarian classes were all evenly matched.

We were a bit concerned when Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning(or WAR, on the streets) had its release date changed from the comfortingly specific "Sept. 23" to the vague and unsettling "Sept. 08." Little did we know, that change was just a chrysalis from which a new, just as specific but even earlier date could emerge: Sept. 18.

EA would also like you to start referring to Sept. 18 as the "Day of Reckoning," and that's fine, if you want to help drum up some extra interest among friends or family. Just do us a favor and put the kibosh on that when you go out into public, OK?